A report revealed that the US Department of Justice has indicted a Latvian woman for her role in developing the alleged malicious Trickbot program, which was responsible for infecting millions of computers and targeting schools, hospitals, public facilities, and governments. The Department of Justice alleges that Alla Witt was part of a criminal organization known as the Trickbot Group, which operates in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Suriname. It allegedly helped develop malware that was used to enable ransom requests and payments.
The Justice Department said victims would receive a notification that their computers had been encrypted and instructed to purchase special software through a Bitcoin address associated with the Trickbot group to decrypt their files.
According to the Department of Justice, the Trickbot malware was designed to capture online banking login credentials to access other personal information including credit card numbers, emails, passwords, Social Security numbers, and addresses.
The Justice Department said the group used the stolen personal information to access online bank accounts, carry out unauthorized electronic money transfers and launder money through US and foreign recipient accounts.
Federal law enforcement agencies warned hospitals and healthcare providers last October of a credible ransomware threat from attackers using Trickbot to spread ransomware like Ryuk and Conti.
Witt was arrested on February 6 in Miami. She was charged with 19 counts, including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit internet fraud and bank fraud affecting a financial institution, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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